Two spotlights sweep over the crowd at the Times Union Center before settling on the court. As the infectious whistle of “Sweet Georgia Brown” rises from the silence, a small figure in red, white and blue dribbles a basketball into the light, flashing a smile you can see from the top row.

Tay Fisher, one of the most popular players ever at Siena College, lights up the home crowd again, making magic with the round ball as he’s done for years on the streets of Kingston, where he lives, and now on courts around the world as a member of the Harlem Globetrotters.

Fisher’s performance before a recent Siena-Loyola game is a preview of what he will do Sunday when the Globetrotters bring their world-famous show — more entertainment than sport — to the Times Union Center. Fisher, a Globetrotter rookie, is in his third month with the team but already being groomed as its next great ball-handler.

Tay Fisher at center court (Cindy Schultz / Times Union)

In the spotlight at center court, Fisher spins a basketball on his finger. He rolls the ball behind his neck and over his shoulders and upper arms.
Then he drops to the floor, lies on his side and dribbles as he spins in circles. He dribbles under his legs and behind his back. He pops up, seeks out a referee, reaches out to shake his hand and then flips around, sticks out his butt and bounces the ball off it right into the referee’s arms.

The crowd cheers, and Firefly beams, as the lights come back on, and the college players take back the court. Yes, Firefly. That’s the nickname the Globetrotters gave him. And Fisher can’t wait to tell the story behind it.

“They gave me that nickname for three different reasons,” he says, sitting at court side during the promotional visit to Albany. “Because I’m the smallest player on the team. And I’m the quickest player on the team. And because of my shooting ability, they say I can light it up real quick.

“So that’s where the Firefly comes from, because, you know, a firefly lights up. You see it, and you don’t. You see it, and you don’t. It’s that quick. That’s me, Firefly.”

Tay Fisher (Cindy Schultz / Times Union)

Fisher is 5-foot-9, and although he wanted to keep playing basketball after graduating from Siena in May 2008, his height stopped him. He thought maybe he could make it with a professional team in Europe, but couldn’t get a tryout. The NBA wasn’t even a consideration.

But that summer, he got a call from the Harlem Globetrotters. He had caught their attention in his senior year when, against heavily favored Vanderbilt in the first round of the NCAA tournament, he led his underdog Saints to victory by sinking six straight three-pointers.

In August 2008, he flew to Phoenix, headquarters of the Globetrotters, for a tryout. He performed well on the court and in interviews, but the Globetrotters didn’t have a spot for him.

So Fisher returned to Kingston, resumed his work in schools (he gives motivational speeches) and with kids (he runs Tay Fisher’s Fundamental Basketball Camp). And he took courses at The College of Saint Rose, because one day he wants to be a teacher.

Then, in August 2009, the Globetrotters called again. They had a spot, so Fisher attended his second tryout. The coach, Barry Hardy, a former Globetrotter player nicknamed Hi Rise because of his 48-inch vertical leap, knew already that he wanted Fisher.

“He was great, man,” Hardy says, chuckling over the phone at the mere mention of Fisher. “He was smiling, and he was very personable. That means a lot as a Globetrotter, because you want someone who’s a people person. He’s great with the kids. He’s great with the fans. When I first met him, I just knew I had to have this kid on my team.”

Tay Fisher (Cindy Schultz / Times Union)

Fisher attended a 10-day training camp and worked with Curly Neal, who in 22 seasons of magical dribbling and ball-handling became one of the Globetrotters’ most beloved players. His shaved head earned him his nickname. (Fisher also has a shaved head.)

“Tay has blossomed into a good ball-handler as well as an awesome dribbler,” Hardy says. “That’s kind of fun, because he’s known for his jump shot. You know the great Globetrotter dribblers Curly Neal and Marques Haynes? Well, Tay’s up and coming. Hopefully in the next two or three years, he’ll be one of the greatest ever.”

Neither Hardy nor Fisher will give away much about Firefly’s role in the show. That’s the term — not the game — that Fisher uses for the performances against the hapless Washington Generals, who day after day lose graciously to the flashy Globetrotters.

He’s had three months to prepare for his homecoming. His first game with the Globetrotters was in Spain, and then the team played throughout the Mediterranean and for American troops in the Middle East, including Iraq.

“A lot of people have been asking me if I’m going to be nervous,” Fisher says. “I’m not going to be nervous, because I’m already going to have 100-plus games under my belt.

“I’m really happy about coming back here, not only to play on the same court where I ended my career, but to play in front of my friends and family — especially in my rookie year with the world-famous Harlem Globetrotters.”

Fisher says he hopes to play with the Globetrotters for many years. He’s a hard worker, he says, and a quick learner. He’s getting better all the time and having fun, he says; the players have as much fun together off the court as they do on it.

So Fisher practices constantly, he says. He always has. Growing up in Kingston he would dribble around town, up and down streets, often at night. Residents would sometimes call the police because of the racket of the bouncing ball.

And last fall, before joining the team, Fisher spent hours outside spinning the ball on his finger and dribbling between his legs. He continued to attract attention, from neighbors, policemen, strangers driving by.

It never failed, Fisher says. Sooner or later, someone would stop, roll down the window and say, “Hey, who do you think you are, a Harlem Globetrotter?”